diff --git a/include/mapnik/image_view.hpp b/include/mapnik/image_view.hpp
index f9d13977f..eb4eac6e7 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/image_view.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/image_view.hpp
@@ -35,12 +35,14 @@ public:
     using pixel_type = typename T::pixel_type;
     static const image_dtype dtype = T::dtype;
     static constexpr std::size_t pixel_size = sizeof(pixel_type);
-    
+    image_view() = delete;
     image_view(unsigned x, unsigned y, unsigned width, unsigned height, T const& data);
     ~image_view();
-
+    
     image_view(image_view<T> const& rhs);
     image_view<T> & operator=(image_view<T> const& rhs);
+    bool operator==(image_view<T> const& rhs) const;
+    bool operator<(image_view<T> const& rhs) const;
 
     unsigned x() const;
     unsigned y() const;
diff --git a/include/mapnik/image_view_any.hpp b/include/mapnik/image_view_any.hpp
index 7281d8550..3381f90c1 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/image_view_any.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/image_view_any.hpp
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ using image_view_base = util::variant<image_view_rgba8,
 
 struct MAPNIK_DECL image_view_any : image_view_base
 {
-    image_view_any() = default;
+    image_view_any() = delete;
 
     template <typename T>
     image_view_any(T && data) noexcept
diff --git a/include/mapnik/image_view_impl.hpp b/include/mapnik/image_view_impl.hpp
index 7c46ab63f..e71176d90 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/image_view_impl.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/image_view_impl.hpp
@@ -62,6 +62,18 @@ image_view<T> & image_view<T>::operator=(image_view<T> const& rhs)
     return *this;
 }
 
+template <typename T>
+bool image_view<T>::operator==(image_view<T> const& rhs) const
+{
+    return rhs.data_.getBytes() == data_.getBytes();
+}
+
+template <typename T>
+bool image_view<T>::operator<(image_view<T> const& rhs) const
+{
+    return data_.getSize() < rhs.data_.getSize();
+}
+
 template <typename T>
 inline unsigned image_view<T>::x() const
 {